This invention relates generally to container holding devices and, more particularly, to an apparatus for holding a container of viscous liquid in an inverted orientation by urging the container into a base member.
A condiment having a high viscosity, such as ketchup, pours very slowly from its container, particularly when the container is almost empty. In such an instance, a relatively small volume of the viscous liquid must flow a long distance from the bottom of the container to its spout. This is less of a problem when the container is nearly full in that the flow distance is shorter and the greater weight of the larger volume speeds the flow.
Various devices have been proposed in the art for holding a condiment container in a partially or completely inverted position so as to reduce the flow distance and speed up dispensing. Although assumably effective for their intended purposes, the existing devices do not provide the stability of maintaining downward tension on the container and are not suitable for holding containers of various sizes. Further, the existing devices do not provide an apparatus capable of conveniently holding an inverted container in a variety of locations, such as on a refrigerator shelf, in a refrigerator door, as well as on a tabletop.
Therefore, it is desirable to have an apparatus for holding a viscous liquid container in an inverted position which urges the container downward into a base member cap recess. Further, it is desirable to have an apparatus for holding an inverted container which includes a telescopic handle for use with containers of different lengths.
An apparatus for holding an inverted container of viscous liquid includes a base member defining a central recess for receiving a cap of the container therein for supporting the container in an inverted orientation. The apparatus further includes a handle member attached to the base member and extending upwardly therefrom. The handle member includes telescopic arm elements such that the apparatus can be used to support and hold liquid containers of various heights. A lever is pivotally coupled to an upper end of the handle member and is pivotally movable between a first configuration extending inwardly relative to the handle member and situated above the base member and a second configuration displaced from the first configuration. More particularly, the lever may be pivotally moved to a position extending outwardly relative to the handle member and situated about 180xc2x0 from the lever""s position at the first configuration. The lever is spring-loaded so as to be biased in the direction of the first configuration. Thus, the lever is normally urged toward contact with a bottom wall of the inverted container so as to urge the container toward the base member, where the bottle""s cap is received in the base member recess.
Therefore, a general object of this invention is to provide an apparatus for holding a viscous liquid container in an inverted configuration.
Another object of this invention is to provide an apparatus, as aforesaid, which urges an inverted container toward the base member.
Still another object of this invention is to provide an apparatus, as aforesaid, which can hold containers of various heights in an inverted configuration.
Yet another object of this invention is to provide an apparatus, as aforesaid, for supporting and holding a viscous liquid container on a table surface, in the door of a refrigerator, or on a shelf of a refrigerator.
A further object of this invention is to provide an apparatus, as aforesaid, which can be positioned so as to selectively hold a viscous liquid container in a partially inverted configuration.
A still further object of this invention is to provide an apparatus, as aforesaid, which includes a locking mechanism for selectively holding the lever at a selected configuration.